New Delhi: The Metro services between Anand Vihar- Vaishali, which kicked off on Friday, made Ghaziabad the third centre in the National Capital Region to be connected to Delhi Metro after Gurgaon in Haryana and Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

On the first day of its expansion in Uttar Pradesh, the service was a huge hit with the 30,000 commuters, who were eagerly waiting for the commencement of the service on this route.

The train was flagged off by state’s Panchayati Raj Minister and BSP chief Swami Prasad Maurya.

On this occasion, Maurya appreciated the coordinated efforts of DMRC and Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA).

Maurya also informed that in the next phase, Dilshad Garden-Mohan Nagar metro services will be connected.

Chief Public Relation Officer Anuj Dayal said that the Vaishali metro station spread in an area of 15,790 square kilometer is one of the biggest networks.

“The frequency of trains would be 5 minutes 34 seconds and around 40,000 passengers are expected to travel on the section daily,” Dayal said.

According to DMRC, Dwarka Sector 21 to Vaishali will become the second longest corridor of the Delhi Metro network with a route length of approximately 46 km.

Dwarka Sector 21 to Noida corridor is the longest stretch of the Metro network spanning over 49 km.People travelling on this route will cover the distance between Dwarka Sector 21 to Vaishali in 81 minutes and 22 seconds. The total numbers of stations on the route are 41. The minimum fare will be Rs 8 while maximum is Rs 30.

The Vaishali Metro is an extension of the 35 km Dwarka-Yamuna Bank corridor.

Delhi Metro was operating 56 trains in this corridor. With Ghaziabad line being operational, total number of services has gone up to 58.

Delhi Metro runs around 2,000 train trips and ferries more than 16 lakh passengers every day.